BETTER NAVIGATION: U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) has signed a cooperative research agreement with L-3 Communications to develop improved personal navigation technology for soldiers in areas where the Global Positioning System is denied or degraded. The technology is a hybrid that "cooperates" with GPS but has its own embedded capability, allowing for navigation to be maintained in "GPS-deprived" areas like cities or underground structures, JFCOM says.
TUSKEGEE GOLDEN: Capitol Hill has awarded the Tuskegee Airmen the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honor it can bestow. "Perseverance, sacrifice, duty and an outstanding service record are part of the lasting legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said March 29. "Because of their efforts, our nation is free and we are richer as a people. Today's ceremony is long overdue, but our nation's gratitude for the Tuskegee Airmen's service is profound." Lawmakers moved to honor the World War II legends a year ago (DAILY, March 6, 2006).
Space tourist Charles Simonyi will contribute to research for the European Space Agency (ESA) during his 10-day visit to the International Space Station next month, Space Adventures announced March 29. Simonyi will act as a test subject for a research program designed by ESA to study the response of the human body to the microgravity environment aboard the station and hopefully cast light on common Earth ailments.
The Pentagon is seeking more than $56 billion in fiscal 2008 and the remainder of FY '07 to pay for resetting and reconstituting the U.S. Army and Marine Corps' equipment needs, Defense Department officials said March 29. Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also told the House Appropriations defense subcommittee that 40 percent of the Army and Marine Corps' existing equipment is either deployed in Iraq or in depots being repaired.
GLOBAL HAWK SUPPORT: The U.S. Air Force is extending Northrop Grumman a $35.5 million contract modification to provide logistics for Global Hawk unmanned aircraft from April through September, the Pentagon announced March 28. The logistics support incorporates all contractor activities required for support of the system, including planning, activating and operating in support of Beale Air Force Base, Calif., and forward operating locations and bases overseas.
The leading Pentagon expense for 2006, in terms of money spent or designated by contract or contract modifications, was about $70 billion for architecture and engineering services, according to an Aerospace Daily computer analysis of government contracting data, although industry budget analysts are puzzled by the size of the outlay.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) research and development unit has ruled out using satellites to monitor airports for small surface-to-air missile attacks but might consider high altitude manned aircraft, the unit's chief said March 28.
Top U.S. Navy leaders threw a little cold water on budding efforts to boost the fiscal 2008 shipbuilding request March 28, saying they are "very concerned" with industry's limitations in regard to increased production. Any additional appropriations over President Bush's request should be carefully matched to industrial capacity, according to Navy Secretary Donald Winter and Adm. Mike Mullen, chief of naval operations.
India is actively seeking international partners for its space industry, and plans to use the upcoming International Astronautical Congress in Hyderabad for some serious matchmaking. The Sept. 24-28 gathering will include a heavier-than-usual focus on space business, and Indian space leaders hope they parlay that into some new contracts for their industry.
DARFUR NO-FLY: The British government may be pushing the United Nations to pursue a no-fly zone over Sudan's Darfur to try to quell violence in the troubled region. A report in the British Guardian newspaper claims that Prime Minister Tony Blair is personally advocating the implementation of a no-fly zone over the area where alleged genocide is occurring. The aim would be to ensure Sudan does not violate U.N. resolutions regarding the provision of weapons using transport aircraft.
Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. James Clapper Jr., the former National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency director who clashed with since-ousted Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, said if he becomes undersecretary of defense for intelligence he will restructure the Pentagon's intel shop like new Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Mike McConnell recently announced. The plan underscores further distancing from Rumsfeld's tenure as McConnell and new Defense Secretary Robert Gates restructure their agencies (DAILY, March 27).
NSOM BIDDER: Raytheon Co. will lead an industry team in pursuit of the seven-year Network and Space Operations & Maintenance (NSOM) program, which will provide operations and maintenance services to the U.S. Air Force's Satellite Control Network.
When it comes to the replacement aircraft for the U.S. Air Force KC-135 tanker fleet, one factor is becoming clearer, according to competitors Northrop Grumman and Boeing: size matters. What the Air Force has to decide is whether it wants a jumbo tanker. "Bigger, we believe, is better," said Paul Meyer, vice president of Air Mobility Systems for Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems.
Boeing on March 28 announced the team members that will help it pursue the next major plum in NASA's exploration program - the right to build the upper stage for the Ares I rocket. Boeing's teammates include: United Technologies Corp. subsidiary Hamilton Sundstrand, Moog Inc., Northrop Grumman, Orion Propulsion Inc., SUMMA Technology Inc., Chickasaw Nation Industries, United Space Alliance (USA) and United Launch Alliance (ULA).
SUBCONTRACTORS: The European Defense Agency on March 29 will formally launch an initiative to ease the path for small and medium-size companies to become defense subcontractors. The move is part of a broader EDA goal of breaking down national barriers on an inter-European level and fostering a cross-border flow of defense work. EDA is setting up a portal on which European contractors would post subcontracting opportunities. The portal will be up and running next week and could draw interest from 30,000 suppliers, EDA says.
Russia has agreed to provide a gamma ray and neutron spectrometer for the European Space Agency's BepiColombo Mercury probe. The probe will be built by EADS Astrium and launched in 2013 in cooperation with Japan. Russian scientists were also invited to respond to the next call for proposals for ESA's new Cosmic Vision science program, to be submitted by the end of June.
AUSTRALIAN AEGIS: The U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command is awarding Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems and Sensors a $260.4 million fixed-price incentive contract modification for four Aegis Weapon Systems (AWS). The deal defines AWS long-lead material requirements and also includes Foreign Military Sales to Australia and Spain, the Defense Department said March 26. The AWS is the primary anti-air warfare defensive weapons system onboard surface ship combatants.
COMMUNIST BAN: The Defense Department has adopted as final, without change, an interim rule amending Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations to implement a fiscal 2006 defense authorization act mandate that prohibits the DOD from acquiring U.S. Munitions List items from Chinese military companies.
Rolls-Royce announced March 26 that it will supply the U.S. Navy's first two DDG-1000 Zumwalt-class destroyers with four powerful Marine Trent 30 (MT30) gas-turbine generator sets. The British defense contractor, which also builds electric propulsion systems, had been considered a leading contender for the initial gas-turbine engines after an MT30 was tapped to power the DDG-1000 Land-Based Test Site in Philadelphia, AVIATION WEEK's Defense Technology International reported last November. 'Enabling platform'
GALILEO ULTIMATUM: The eight-member Galileo Operating Consortium should be able to negotiate an agreement to deploy and run the planned European navigation-satellite constellation now that it has created a single legal entity to negotiate with the European Commission. The absence of such a body - and a CEO to run it - was a chief reason cited by EC Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot for the current deadlock in negotiations for an EC concession with the consortium for the 30-satellite system.
